The suture materials are generally packaged in a sterile manner in foil or a combination of foil and film or foil and paper packages. The sutures are usually packaged either as a single suture in a package or as a plurality of sutures in a package and they may be packaged with needles attached or without needles. Dispensers for such suture materials or similar packages of various types are well known in the art. Patents which are representative of various types of dispensers both for suture packages and other materials are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,004,691; 4,030,596; 4,138,052; 4,197,985 and 4,252,236.
A dispenser box will carry a specific size and style or type of suture. A plurality of the dispenser boxes, each carrying a different size and type of suture, are maintained together in a suitable rack for easy access to virtually all the types and sizes of sutures that may be required in a specific surgical procedure.
In providing for the dispensing of packages of sterile suture materials, a number of things need to be considered and are desirable. The dispenser should be such that it is readily apparent to the user the type of suture material contained in the dispenser. The packages should be readily accessible so that either the nurse or the surgeon when obtaining the suture can do so with the utmost of ease. Furthermore, the package or the dispenser should be such that either single packages or a plurality of packages may be removed from the dispenser at one time. The dispenser should be such that it provides a means of verifying that it contains a sufficient quantity of required suture packages prior to the start of a surgical procedure. Furthermore, the dispenser should be constructed or contained in such a way as to minimize the amount of dust or airborne contaminants that may enter the dispenser and accumulate on the suture packages.